The Oregon daily journal., February 08, 1908, Page 17, Image 17

THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, ; SATURDAY .; EVENING FEBRUARY . t, : !90S ' '
t i
..v ... .;, v '
THE BOY
Grots)
ewer
W J
LI NCOLM
Old
IK AN uncomfortable log cabin, far xut In the West. .
at place called Nolls Cfeek, Abraham Lincoln '
w.ai lorn. February, 1809, and here he lived until be '
tu f years old, There wu only one room la the
cabin, which was built of stout logs laid on top of each
other, then bound together with twig. The apace ..;
between the log were filled up with clay, grass And
deal iearei 'There was no ceiling, only the log roof,
lie used to climb up ,a shaky Udder to Joft in- the
roof, where.he slept on a bed of dry leaves, covering
himself' with wf old deerskin. As he lay there he
'"' " would count the stars that looked through" the spaces
between the logs,- The only comfort the cabin had was
the huge fireplace, which took up nearly the whole of
one side. In front of it was great bearskin fug, on
which be used to- spend the days la- winter, leaning
against his mother's knee while she told htm stories
bout Indians and American history or parables from
ths Bible.
Z..
1 I HEIR food was very simple, consisting of game
shot in the forest, fish caught in the stream, root
and berries from the wood. The bread was made of flour
ground from Indian- corn, and until Lincoln 'was A
grown man he never tasted any other sort of bread.
Abraham soon learned to snake himself useful
He would cut and bring borne wood for the fire. , Ho
learned to use a rule, and was a very good shot
. When Abraham was 7 his father moved to s place,
called Little Pigeon Creek, on the Ohio river, whero
they built another cabin.
Abe, as they called him, was tall boy for his age,
and his legs were always in his way lie never wore
stockings until he was a young man. but moccasins,
such as the Indians wear, and his leggins and shirt were
made of deerskin
pi
3.
ABRAHAM, though a boy when his mother died,
never forgot her. She had taught him his first
lessons, and from her came that sweetness of nature, the
power of thinking first of others, that made every one.
who knew Abe lore him. His father married again,
and ' Abe loved his stepmother, who loved him' and
thought he was the best boy she had ever seen. '. He was,
indeed be sunshine in the house, but in many ways he
was Jonely.
He was hungry for knowledge of books.' All. the
schooling he had was a-month now and then with trav
eling teachers. But Abe was not the sort of boy to.
learn nothing because there was nobody to teachhim.
He had a few books that had been his mother's, and he,
read' them over and over again. When he came in
from work he would go to the cupboard, take a piece
of com' bread, take down a book, sit down, cock his
legs as iiigh as his head, and read. The Bible and
Pilgrim's Progress, . Esop's Fables and Robinson
Crusoe, these were his books, and he knew them by
heart.
' '
r .
1 v A.
FTHE -evenings he used to sit silently, for hours,
thinking. Sometimes hexlid sums of all sorts on4he
wooden - shovel, making figures on it with pieces, of
charcoal. When it --was uite full he shaved off .the
top with his knite so as to have clean slate in the
moruingv n
AH his companions liked Ale. and admired him.
He worked hard, and sometimes be used to stop work
and climb on sv gate or tree stump, and make absurd
speeches, or comic sermonsor recite passages from his
favorite books. His companions -though him a quaint
fellow., with strange ideas, He never cared much for
port because It seemed to him crueL
He showed hlr tenderness to animals when quite
-small hoy. Oue day. he was playing flr4he woods
with a. "boy. called Jul in Daris. While they were at
f la y they ran a hedgehog into a crevice between two
rocks.
5.
THEY tried every sort of plan to get it out, for the
poor thing could not move itself. Abraham could
not bear to leave it to die in pain, so he ran to a black
' smith's shop, quite a mile away, and borrowed a pole
with an irotuhook fastened to the end. With this they
were able to set the little" animal free.
All little children and old people trusted Abraham
and his word. He was very soon known as "Honest
Abe." His life was dull and he longed to escape and
go out and see the world, for unto he was l years old
he had never left home at all.
One day Mr. Gentry, -rich landowner, wanted
to send his son -down the Ohio river with different kinds
of goods to sell at the places they passed. Abraham
had struck: Mr. Gentry as being en honest, capable
lad, and he asked him to undertake the voyage.
6.
ABRAHAM consented at once, glad of any chance
to see something of Ufe outside the settlement.
He took the raft and steered-it successfully down the
river, and they went past the great sugar plantations,
right down to New Orleans., One night they en
camped at Baton Rouge, and here they fastened their
raft and lay down to sleep.
They were both sound asleep, when suddenly
Abraham started up. He heard sounds of many foot
Steps all around him. In the darkness at first he could
tee nothing; then he became aware that a band of ne
groes were attacking the raft, intending to steal their
goods and murder them. -Abraham's cry waked his
companion, and they threw themselves upon the negroes.
Abraham seized a huge log of wood which served him
as a club, and brandished" it in his hand. His greal
height and unknown weapon, which he whirled around
his head, terrified the negroes,. as he hit first one and
Ihen another on the head and threw them overboard
7.
npHE fight was very fierce for a few moments, and
then the negroes turned and fled into the dark
hess. The -voyage ended successfully, and Abraham
returned home f or two years.
At the end of this time his father again moved, and
all the-household goods were packed in a wagon drawn
by oxen, -while the family walked beside it. They
tramped for more than a week, and at last came to the
new .stale; Ulinois .. Abraham helped his father to
male cabin, and with buTown hands he -plowed fifteen
acres of ground. He.also cut down walnut trees, split
ihem. slid built 4 JugV solid fence. wlw& went righr
tronnd his father's property. . Abrshsjrflrred In DUnoiS
until he was made president of the United States:
a,
ONCE he addressed a. meeting there, years after
this, and his cousin, Dennis Hanks, marched
In amid the shouts of applause of the crowd, carrying
on his shoulders a piece of railing that Abraham liad
made for his father R is now )n the museum at Wash
ington. kept as a national treasure." How little could
Abrahanvor any one who knew him at this time, have '
dreamed that this rail-splitter was to .be the greatest
man in America. 1,
V f
Copyright, 1 003, by J. W. Lang.